Les Martyrs has not made great headway on stage or off. This new recording from Opera Rara may well change that. Under Mark Elder, this is a revelatory recording, showing Donizetti’s remarkable grasp of the scope and style French grand opera. Expanded to four acts, with substantial additions and the inclusion of the obligatory ballet, Les Martyrs is a very different – and I think superior – work from its Italian original, Poliuto. Leading the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Elder gives a spacious, clean account of the opera, alive to its dramatic structure but without gimmick, letting the opera speak for itself with surprising originality. Michael Spyres and Joyce El-Khoury are exceptional as Polyeucte and Pauline, the Christian martyrs of the title, with El-Khoury especially refined throughout an extreme range. There is superb support from Brindley Sherratt and Clive Bayley, as well as Opera Rara’s excellent chorus. Lavishly packaged with Opera Rara’s usual attention to detail, I can’t recommend this recording strongly enough. For Donizetti on record, this Les Martyrs is a game-changer.

One of the most exciting emerging talents today, soprano Sonya Yoncheva has dedicated her debut recital to 19th-century Paris, both music composed there and excerpts from operas set in the city. The sheer beauty of Yoncheva’s voice gives great pleasure throughout this recital, and if the concept matters little the singing certainly does. She is a committed and intelligent artist able to make sure each number counts for something dramatically, without sacrifice of tone or any hint of harshness – certainly she can apply pressure to make a dramatic point, but always within the requirements of the vocal line. She is especially touching in Massenet – her rendition of the final scene from his Thaïs is one of the loveliest tracks here, and ‘Pleurez mes yeux’ from Le Cid shows her at her most impassioned. An exceptional disc then, and an important introduction to a significant artist.

This recording might not be fresh out of the studio, but Decca is to be congratulated for finally issuing the now legendary ‘Solti Ring’ at bargain price. Recorded over five years and enshrining some of the greatest Wagnerian signing we are ever likely to hear, this is an indispensable recording. Georg Solti conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in perhaps the most exciting reading of this music we have: there are more lyrical Rings, more philosophical Rings, but none with the sheer power to thrill like this one. From a valedictory turn from Kirsten Flagstad – forsaking Brunnhilde for Fricka – to Birgit Nilsson’s peerless closing scene some 14 hours later, the recording has no flaw serious enough to warrant mention, and in its enormous compass showcases music-making at its most committed and elevated. Never long out of the catalogue, this new release comes in at a ridiculous £39.99, and includes Deryck Cooke’s excellent Introduction to The Ring, over 2 bonus CDs. If you don’t have this recording yet, now’s the time.

The French directors Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier were at first reluctant to add Gaetano Donizetti’s rarely-performed Maria Stuarda to the impressive list of productions they have tackled during long operatic careers. ‘The librettist [Giuseppe Bardari] was 17 year’s old when he wrote it,’ explains Moshe about their initial hesitation. ‘We all admire Donizetti, but we also know that he could write [many] operas on the same day, and actually use the same music for very different operas.’

However, after listening to the glorious music and reading its intriguing, historical libretto, the directing duo realised that Maria Stuarda was a piece very much worth discovering and reinterpreting. ‘We have done, some years ago, Lucia di Lammermoor,’ recalls Patrice about Donizetti’s masterpiece. ‘So it’s really nice to come back to that composer […]. What we work on is the human truth,’ he continues. ‘And there is really something true in every character [of Maria Stuarda].’

For Moshe, the opera is, above all, about political execution: ‘When you hear the first chords of the overture, which are violent, which are very aggressive, it’s about a woman who is going to lose her head.’ But the director points out that their staging does not just focus on the political power of the story, but also explores how the two real-life characters, Mary, Queen of Scots, and Elizabeth I of England, may have felt as women in 16th-century England: ‘Theatre allows us to put a magnifying glass on the different emotions and the links between the characters… We are more interested in the woman that is Elizabeth and the woman that is Maria Stuarda than the queens as historical figures.’

The two Frenchmen stress that, despite their contemporary interpretation, their production aims to remain true to Donizetti’s lyrical music. ‘The bel canto style [of the composer] is trying to sublimate through the music what the words are really saying. So, in that sense, it’s very strong theatre.’ He laments how Donizetti’s operas can sometimes fall out of fashion because of a preference for later Italian composers like Verdi and Puccini. But for Moshe, the beauty of Maria Stuarda is clearly written in the score, and it’s up to directors, singers and other artists alike to simply follow what it says. ‘If we do that,’ he concludes, ‘we can eventually achieve some human truth in that piece’.

L’elisir d’amore has been one of my favourite operas, ever since I saw it for the first time at the Royal Opera House in the 1980s, performed by Luciano Pavarotti.

Here is a video of Pavarotti singing the opera’s most famous aria, Una furtiva lagrima, in a different production:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh2Vh8jwyQA

The opera is very touching and funny, but also has tunes that you can hum on the way out. As with any comedy, a successful performance depends on exact timing, not only in the acting, but also in the singing. To make the experience complete, you need a conductor who understands the genre. We are extremely fortunate in having Maestro Campanella, who is the perfect interpreter of bel canto repertory. He will bring the necessary fizz to the performance.

I have followed Roberto Alagna since he first came to London and sang the wonderful Roméo in Roméo et Juliette in 1994, and I cannot wait to see him in this comic role, which he has not sung in London before.

Roberto Alagna on performing in L’elisir d’amore:

I have no doubt that Roberto Alagna will bring his personal charm and charisma to the evening. Having Aleksandra Kurzak return in the role of will simply be a treat.

No performance of Elisir is complete without a really funny Doctor Dulcamara. For those who don’t know, he supplies the elixir (red wine) which makes Adina fall in love with Nemorino. Ambrogio Maestri is just the right person to play the larger-than-life ‘doctor’.

The on-stage elixir varies from production to production; the substitute for red wine can be Ribena, cranberry juice or grape juice, depending on personal taste. You can come to L’elisir d’amore assured that the delirious comedy is due to the singers’ skills as performers rather than inebriation!

Booking is now open for Laurent Pelly’s production of L’elisir d’amore at the Royal Opera House. It runs from 13 November – 7 December 2012.

Donizetti’s timeless opera L'elisir d'amore focuses on an Italian bumpkin called Nemorino (played in this revival by Roberto Alagna), who has fallen in love with a landowner, Adina. She however, couldn’t care less; she’s far too superior to reciprocate the affections of a lowly peasant.

But after hearing Adina read the story of Tristan and Isolde to some enrapt harvest workers, Nemorino turns to a love potion, peddled by the travelling Dr Dulcamara. Little realizing that the brew he's provided with is simply a bottle of cheap Bordeaux, Nemorino is disappointed when Adina presses on with plans to marry the pompous Sergeant Belcore. Things are not looking good for our likely lad.

At the wedding, Nemorino arrives late to find Adina annoyed that he isn't there. Depressed and desperate to get money to buy more of the elixir, Nemorino has enlisted in the army. The other girls in the village start to flirt with him, but only because they’ve heard that a wealthy uncle has left him a pot of cash. Adina is upset by this flirtatious display and, witnessing her upset, Nemorino sings the aria ‘Una furtiva lagrima’.

In an opera about fake potions and feigned emotions, Donizetti invests this aria with considerable pathos. It is set in B flat minor, a dark key with often tragic associations. It is closely related, however, to the balmy key of D flat major, which became ubiquitous in operatic love scenes. It is to that warmer, happier key that the aria aspires. The aria begins in a darker mood with Harp arpeggios and a plangent bassoon solo showing Nemorino’s compassion for Adina. A clarinet provides its own sympathetic echo, while the melodic line is littered with rising appoggiaturas, which provide brief harmonic crushes. And, as Nemorino realises that Adina loves him, the music finally moves into the major.

The second verse, although a repeat of the first, has greater emotional intensity. The flute now doubles the clarinet’s compassionate response. But the most significant alteration is the eventual shift into a sunny B flat major. The strings move from tentative pizzicato to broad bowing and Nemorino, once feckless appears an ardent lover at last. His decorative run of notes before the final cadence displays overflowing happiness.

Like L’elisir d’amore as a whole, Nemorino’s famous aria could seem sweet but inconsequential. Unwilling to shortchange his singers and audience, however, Donizetti invests such milestones in the story with pathos and panache. Seeing beyond the quacks and elixirs, Nemorino is a boy worth catching. So it’s little wonder that Adina ends up confessing her love for him.

Director of Opera, Kasper Holten said, "La Duchesse de Crakentorp is a non-singing comic role in Donizetti's La Fille du régiment. The part requires a strong personality, and has in the past been played highly successfully at The Royal Opera by actress and comedian Dawn French. In the spirit of casting a personality renowned for their work on the non-operatic stage, Ann Widdecombe proved to be an irresistible option, and we think she will be very suitable for this small, but important role in Donizetti's opera."

Royal Opera House Collections has created an exhibition in tribute to legendary soprano Joan Sutherland, whose career is so closely associated with the Royal Opera House.

Joan began her professional career in 1952 as a member of the Covent Garden Opera Company on a salary of £10 a week. The next seven years learning her craft culminated in 1959, when Franco Zeffirelli cast her in the title role in his production of Donizetti’s Lucia de Lammermoor. This role launched her international career and she was immediately in demand all over the world, but she retained a loyalty and affection for Covent Garden throughout her life.

The exhibition includes images of all her roles at the Royal Opera House from 1959 until her farewell performance in 1990, and of almost all her early roles from 1952 to 1959. Other rarely-seen photographs include glimpses of Sutherland in rehearsal and behind the scenes. There will be four costumes on display in the Costume Gallery in the Carriage Entranceway as well as a further two costumes and four headdresses in other exhibition areas. None of these have been exhibited before and the exhibition includes spectacular costumes for Lucrezia Borgia, designed by Michael Stennett and Anna Bolena, designed by John Pascoe.The exhibition is open to the public as a tour from now until February 2012.

Tour Times

This unique tour takes place most days at 11am.Please check ticket availability with the Box Office. Latecomers will not be admitted. The duration of the tour is about 45 minutes.

Booking

Book in person at the Box Office or by telephone on +44 (0)20 7304 4000.

Prices

£7 per adult

£6.50 senior concession

£5 for students/UB40 holders/children

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